He Was Supposed To Save Her
by alabamagirl1997
Summary: She hid so much behind those big, emerald eyes of hers; a horrible secret at home that was threatening to tear her world apart. Kakashi was her inspiration to keep living, to keep going... But was he enough to save her? Could he see past the composure and the lies of 'everything is fine? Is he enough to save her? KakaSaku romance.
1. Chapter 1

He was supposed to save her. She had the whole thing planned out; he would jump in at the last second of the battle and destroy the opponent who was battered but still _winning_. She would yell at him later about her not needing his help but he would only smile and tell her that she didn't always need to be strong because she had him to share the burden with.

She had become ANBU captain at age seventeen; a feat that none of her friends and comrades thought she would be able to accomplish. After all, they could remember her from when she was a weak little girl at the tender age of twelve after Sasuke first left.

She lost her parents when she was fifteen. Tsunade completely took advantage of the broken remains of Haruno Sakura and became the mother that she always wished that she had been. The Hokage took care of her apprentice, of her _daughter_. She didn't fail to notice the way that Sakura began to depend on training and healing as if her life were on the line.

Despite all the times sleeping pills 'accidently' were slipped into her food or insomniac medication 'happened' to be dissolved into her drinks, Sakura would sniff it out and continue to survive off of three or four hours of sleep a night. It became a schedule; sleep, food, training, hospital shift, training, Naruto's distractions, shift, sleep. Start all over again.

It wasn't healthy in the slightest bit but Sakura couldn't find the need to care; not when she had a truly valid reason to stay away from home. The kunoichi had long moved out of the two floor house that her parents owned and got her own place. It was boring with no touch of color that one would think the lively girl would add. She pretended for them though; inside she was breaking to pieces.

She had first met him in the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Kai was his name and at first glance, he was truly amazing. He had the charming smile, the chocolate colored locks that hung over his forehead, and a truly dashing set of dimples on his cheeks that seemed to make him all the more innocent and genuine.

They all hated him except for her. Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Tsunade, Sai; they all thought he was faking it to the best of his abilities. Even from the very moment they all met in his home village, they despised the young man.

Konaha was backing up Cloud in an upcoming war which was why Team Seven was sent there in the first place; they were acting as rule enforcers to whip the shinobi there in shape (Kami knows they needed it). Kai was the best of the bunch, a true genius at heart. He had immediately taken Sakura's heart and put it under lock and key, refusing to release it for a second. His charm was on full blast and maybe, _maybe _that was why she missed it; how right her real family was.

It took all of him moving in with her and maintaining a permanent residence with her before she noticed the first slipup in his façade. She wishes that she hadn't of ignored it. Now it was just too late.

…

He was poking her, or maybe poking wasn't the right term to use. Jabbing, yes, he was jabbing her with his long finger while bombarding her with every cuss word he's ever come into contact with. He wanted her to turn the alarm off and he wanted it off right _then_. Not five seconds later when she could finally reach over and shut the damned thing off. The damage was already done.

"Sakura I swear to the damn heavens that I will murder you if my sleep is interrupted again; do I make myself clear?" His voice was gravelly and rough, hoarse with sleep and alcohol from the night before. It didn't numb his mind enough, it seemed. He was still sober enough to threaten her life.

She ignored him while pulling her sore, bruised body to an upright position. She grimaced as her long, pink hair fell over her shoulder. The throb between her legs was an everlasting reminder of Kai's drunken rage as well as the dark patches littering her arms and legs.

In seconds her skin began to glow a light green as her chakra instinctively healed her without permission. She hated that this was the norm. She absolutely hated it.

Her shower was short lived since it never soothed her; she could still feel his filthy hands on her skin no matter what she did, and her outfit was her usual training shorts and tank top with her pristine white uniform for her shifts that thankfully started soon, not soon enough in her opinion.

She was quick to pack an extra week's worth of clothes so that she could continue staying at the hospital instead of coming home which was the only reason why she had come back the day before; she needed more supplies to hide away with. After all, Kai wouldn't dare anything in public. No, he was only a brute behind closed doors.

While her healing abilities were only second to Tsunade herself, Sakura wasn't able to banish away the paleness of her face nor the black, painful looking bruises under her eyes from lack of sleep. Everything else was long gone, nonexistent to the eyes of those who would surely skin her boyfriend for the act. She didn't quite know why she protected him but at the end of the day it was chalked up to how small he made her feel. She didn't want a living soul to know how weak she had been for too long. It had gone on for way too long.

He was just starting to stir when she quickly closed and locked the front door behind her, breathing out in silent relief that she would be safe for at least the next few days. She chanted it as she listened to his heavy, violent footfalls on the hardwood floors and his jerky movements while cursing her to the deepest pits of hell for leaving without his permission. She quickly left before she would hear what he planned her punishment out to be.

The sun was another hour from rising by the time she sat down in her office, actually happy to see stacks upon stacks of paperwork on her desk. It meant work, it meant time, it meant an escape that she would gladly take. It didn't matter that she barely slept and that she could feel her body protest with everything she did; she was happy to be away from home.

Sakura sat herself down in her chair and heaved a sigh before beginning to sort through what would surely take her hours to complete. While she was physically slumped and exhausted, the exhilaration of safety was almost overwhelming. It reminded her of when she lived with her parents and everything had been so fantastic. Now everything was falling apart in front of her and no amount of strength or skill could stop it. She felt useless.

Somewhere in the review of two customer complaints about one particularly moody nurse that she had come to detest over the years, a coffee landed on her desk with a dull thud. The pinkette shifted her glazed eyes to the black-headed figure in front of her.

"What can I do for you, Shizune?"

The woman frowned at the sound of her comrade's scratchy voice and the concern burned in her eyes. "I saw your light on from down the hall and figured that if you're here at this untimely hour then you would need coffee. Honestly Sakura, did you sleep at all last night? Or the past month for that matter?"

The younger kunoichi gave a small smile while sipping the pure warmth that she hoped would keep her awake. "Aw, I don't look that bad, do I?"

"Has Tsunade seen you like this?" Shizune suddenly spoke with confidence. "I believe with all of my heart that she would not be happy to catch sight of your condition."

Sakura stiffened at the sound of her Shishou's name but then tried to relax. "I'm fine, I just have so much work to do."

"That's your excuse every morning." Shizune shuffled her feet and glanced at the ground uncomfortably. "Is… is everything okay with Kai? I mean, I haven't seen him around much…"

"I think it's time that you go tend to the patients. I have work to do before I'm able to do my own rounds so maybe you should take the first shift." Sakura was blunt as if the response had been a long awaited excuse to the expected question.

Shizune looked to the floor with her arm crossed over her torso and opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it moments later with a deep frown. "I'll see you later. Try and relax a little though, okay."

The pinkette didn't answer, only looking back down at her previous task like a visitor had never appeared.

…

He knew many things. He knew exactly how many steps it took to get from his apartment to the memorial, he knew exactly how many missions he had been on in his life, and he knew exactly how many pages were in every edition of Icha Icha ever sold. He knew _so many things_ that it baffled him even more when he couldn't answer the simple question that had appeared in his own head that morning.

It had been one of those nights where sleep would not find him no matter what he did so he had decided to spend yet another insufferable amount of hours memorizing the words of his beloved orange books. After so many years of gliding his eyes over the small print, he barely had to glance at a page to know the contents of it.

Well before the sun even thought of touching the night sky, something completely different had caught his attention; quite abruptly even.

He would recognize that shade of pink anywhere, no matter the situation or time of day. It was unique and light and so perfectly abnormal that he never could manage to look away when he caught the girl in moments such as then.

Sakura was walking down the empty, dark street while continuously glancing over her shoulder as if waiting for a nightmare to suddenly appear and hunt her down. She passed under a dull street light and he could see the sporadic rise and fall of her chest. She was scared, he was sure of it, but he couldn't sense a danger near them.

He briefly wondered if she ever even knew that she passed by his place whenever going to and from work (which he hated that she didn't do enough so he _knew_ that she stayed at the hospital far too often). He only saw her take the travel between her home and job about once a week and when she does go back to the hospital, it's always like this; scared, paranoid, _frantic._

One thing he could never figure out, though, no matter how many times he quietly trailed her on her journey to assure her safety, was what really made such a strong, powerful kunoichi cower in the likes of the night.


	2. Chapter 2- Would You?

Chapter 2- Would You?

Tsunade watched her fingers gently roll the pencil in front of her face while her feet tapped rhythmically on the stone floor. The dark-headed kunoichi in front of her desk was pacing a damn hole into the floor while they waited for those who had been requested.

The blonde felt her last nerve snap and in response, she slammed both hands on the desk causing her partner to flinch and finally come to a stop. "Shizune, we are both worried but it was agreed that we will not pass that feeling to her team. If you continue to wear out my floor then they would know that this is much bigger than we are making it out to be. Calm. Down." Tsunade left no room for arguments and that was clear just by the tone of her voice.

Shizune huffed by complied to the demand. She quickly scuffled over to the window behind her Lady and watched the citizens far below them go about their daily business. There was a moment when she wondered what it would have been like it she had never wanted to be a ninja as a young child. What would her life be then?

The two women were alerted immediately of the arrival of their guests just by the loud footsteps of a running nineteen year-old boy. Naruto burst through the door like it was his right to do so and Tsunade could do nothing but drop her head to her hands.

The headache that she previously had was rapidly evolving into a migraine just by the obnoxious entrance. First Shizune had woken her up far too early this morning for her taste to inform her of her apprentice's deteriorating health and now she had to deal with this kid… She needed sake.

Three more figures filed in slowly after the first and all stood next to each other as the original puffed his chest out proudly. "Granny Tsunade, I beat Sai in a race on the way here! Teme says that he let me win but I know that it was a lie, right Kakashi-sensei?"

The hyperactive blonde was grinning widely but the silver-haired Jounin only gave him a look of boredom before turning back to the Hokage. "Please excuse Naruto, it seems that he got a… early start this morning and so decided that a few helpings of dango after his ramen would wake him up more."

Tsunade just nodded while muttering a few choice words under her breath. Naruto sniggered into the back of his hand while the infamous Uchiha just said 'hn' and turned to glare at the wall.

"Well," Naruto started, "Are we going on a mission? I've been itching to get out of this village _forever _now!" His whine pierced everyone's ears but no one commented on it this time.

Tsunade folded her hands over her desk and gave a small smile. "A mission of some sorts but it does not require you to leave the village." She ignored the depressed groans that came from the once-excited boy. "When was the last time any of you trained with Sakura?"

It was like watching starving dogs catching a scent of tender steak; all four men perked up instantaneously and gave the Godaime their full attention.

"The Hag?" Sai mentioned quietly before a thoughtful expression came to his face. "It's been months since we last sparred."

"I barely see Sakura-chan anymore. I always invite her to Ichiraku's but she always says that she's busy." Naruto looked to be deep in thought.

"I see her occasionally pass the Uchiha Compound on her way to a personal training ground. It's not normal though; she's always there for hours and hours at a time."

Kakashi remained silent at hearing his companion's words but turned back to the woman in front of him. "What are you getting at?" His eyes were narrowed as his efficient mind began putting the invisible puzzle pieces together as quick as they were appearing.

Tsunade sent him a small glare, obviously knowing what he was thinking, but turned back to the other boys whom all seemed to be concentrating. "Well, it had come to my attention that our little Blossom has been overworking herself and I think that it is our jobs to relieve her of such stress. Wouldn't you all agree?"

Naruto screamed a loud 'hell yeah!' and pumped his fist in the air at being given an opportunity to uplift the mood of his closer-than-siblings teammate. "Yes! Where is she?"

The Hokage rolled her eyes and ducked behind her desk only to pull out a rather large bottle of alcohol from a drawer and slam it down next to a glass. "She's in her office. There's something more to it though."

Naruto stopped himself from making a beeline for the door and turned to look at her again with confusion shining in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Tsunade uncorked the bottle and slowly poured herself a large glass that would be the first of many to come. "Sakura… I don't know what's gotten into her lately. She is not in the proper condition to train first of all; one look at her will be reason enough so I'd rather not waste my breath on something that you will figure out on your own. For today, just take her out to the training grounds and do regular stuff, whatever the hell is 'normal' for you guys; whatever will bring out the good ole' memories for the girl. She stays here for days at a time and honestly, she's more of a workaholic than Shizune."

A muted protest of 'hey!' could be heard but was promptly ignored just as Naruto's had been when he first entered.

"So that's it? Just get her out of her office and drag her to training that she won't be able to participate in? What's the point of that?" Sasuke shot out one after another.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow in suite with her glass. "Full of questions today, are we?" she teased before growing serious again. "Don't get me wrong, Sakura is extremely powerful and would give any shinobi a run for their money. My apprentice is not one to be messed with; but that doesn't mean she's invincible which leads me to fear for her health if she does not sleep or relax or _something_. Just give her a good time. Now, get on with it; you all know where her office is. Drag her there if need be. Get out."

The last words were an obvious command yet all men but one filed out. The others did not notice how Kakashi did not follow them but instead stood before the Godaime with a wicked glare sported upon his old friend.

Tsunade sighed deeply upon realizing that he wasn't leaving until he heard what he thought he need to hear so she poured herself a healthy sized glass of sake and let it sway in her hand gently. She looked through his cold exterior after staring at him for a few moments but could see nothing but anger and maybe a little concern.

"I don't know what you want me to—

"The truth," he cut her off with a cold response that left her stunned for a moment.

She pursed her lips and averted her apprehensive expression down to her fingers once more. "Kakashi… Sakura, she…" The Hokage was utterly speechless, unable to think of an appropriate way to explain the delicate situation. She glanced up at him quickly and made up her mind. "Something is wrong with her, Hatake, and it's killing me to not know why she withdrawing into herself. I don't know what it is but I'm making this your mission to _figure it the hell out_. Do you understand?"

Tsunade never got a response since the second that she finished what she was saying, the man 'poofed' out of the room in a small cloud of smoke.

The blonde woman sighed deeply and threw her small glass across the room. Shizune jumped up at the sudden shatter and ran to clean it up but her Lady just grabbed the sake bottle by neck and tilted it to her lips, making sure to polish off every last drop she could get before demanding another one.

….

It had been such a long time since the scene in front of him had last pierced his eyes. Sai was underneath a large tree with a sketchbook propped up on his knee and demanding his undivided attention while Naruto and Sasuke were face to face and screaming to the heavens with anger and jealousy shining brightly in their eyes. The only thing that Kakashi recognized as being out of place was Sakura.

She was just standing there with her back to him and facing her teammates. It had taken so much to get her here (Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai restraining her with combined efforts) and it still didn't seem to make her feel any better.

Kakashi quietly walked forward until he was right next to her. He turned to the emotionless girl and smiled to reveal a happy eye-crease, the only indication of the action. "I know you can't train but would you like to help me with my pushups?" No matter how pitiful it was, that was the only thing he could think of to say.

Sakura looked at him for a long moment, eyes studying him carefully before giving a consenting nod of her head. Kakashi restrained a grin as he quickly fell forward into the appropriate position of balancing himself on his toes and pointer fingers. He waited patiently, happily, as Sakura slowly sprawled out on top of him. Just by the way that her arms fell on either side of him, he could tell that she was face up, staring at the cloudless, blue sky.

His smile quickly became a frown when he pushed himself down towards the ground and back up again. _'She's too light. She lost weight, a lot of weight.'_ It unnerved him further and an inkling of a bad feeling rose up in his gut. A kunoichi was made of nothing but muscle due to such a physically demanding lifestyle and losing even five pounds was a big deal; it could completely throw of the body's natural processes. Sakura had to have lost at least twenty pounds; for what?

He continued to lower and raise himself over and over, not even being able to count his pushups this time. His mind was too busy trying to decipher the kunoichi that lay on his back. Since when did she become the serious one? Since when did she become the power-driven one? Since when did she become the workaholic one?

He glanced up some time later to see Sai still sketching with his eyebrows crumpled with concentration. Naruto and Sasuke's yells of anger had turned into words of provocation as they chased after one another in swirls of fire and rasengans. He looked back down to the grass just as a drop of sweat slid off of his forehead and onto a blade of grass under him.

"Kakashi?" Sakura suddenly said, not moving an inch above him.

He grunted at her as an indication to continue and he waited for the question to come. It was a while longer, about ten minutes, when he finally heard her take a deep breath and clear her throat. "Would you cry if I died?"

His workout ended abruptly as he froze, becoming as rigid and still as a boulder. His heart began to pound in his chest almost painfully fast. Images flashed behind his eyes of the girl lying helpless and broken on the battlefield with a sad smile gracing her bloodied features. It hurt him, his chest constricting with the flashing picture of him leaning over the memorial stone for not three names, but four.

Kakashi suddenly slid out from underneath Sakura so that her back would hit the ground and he leaned over her with a hand on either side of her head. He was panicked and didn't even try to hide it from his features as he stared down at her expressionless, beautiful face.

"Why in the hell would you ask that?" He demanded harshly. "What is going on that you would even _have_ to worry about that, huh?"

Sakura seemed to be at loss for words as her sensei hovered over her in anger. She didn't see the concern, she didn't see his yearning to know if she was okay; she saw his displeasure at her. She saw what led to her pain every night at home and even though she tried to hide it, she knows that he saw the fear in her eyes.

"Kakashi, I…" she couldn't even form the right words as she watched him gaze at her with such intensity.

There was a short cough to their right and the silver-haired Jounin quickly turned to see Sai staring at them before glancing back at his paper. Contrary to what Sakura thought, Kakashi didn't remove himself right away. He turned back to her with his stern expression and spoke low enough for only them to hear but with enough strength that it promised no bluff.

"I _never_ want to hear any shit like that from you again. I swear you will regret it if you do." He gently grabbed her left shoulder with his hand and shook once. "_Never!_"

His eyes pierced her and she feared that he could see everything that she hid inside of her. The way that his warm fingers sunk into her skin and drained the very tension that was built up from so much emotional turmoil made her feel weak and see-through. Could he see what happened when she went home? Could he see how broken she was becoming without help and love?

It took a long moment for her to realize that he was waiting for her to respond and was adamant on not moving until she did so. With a stiff neck, she tilted her head up and then down again, a gentle nod that was still too pronounced to escape his studying eyes. His gaze intensified for just a second before he was standing straight on his feet again and the breath that she didn't know she was holding whooshed out of her lungs.

….

"So, how was it?"

The blonde received glares in return. Even Naruto managed to hold onto his angry look as the Hokage heaved a deep sigh. She glanced at the three empty bottles on her desk with longing since Shizune had cut her off well over two hours ago. She sure needed it now.

"Alright, let me hear it," she murmured.

Both at once, Naruto and Sasuke started raging on about how difficult it was to get her out of her office and to the training fields and how completely at fault the Hokage was for their bruises since it was her that had taught Sakura how to accurately use her strength.

The Godaime didn't miss the look that Sai gave Kakashi nor did she miss the acute narrowing of said man's eyes. She allowed the other two to ramble on about how dreadful their old teammate was and how Tsunade should just let her go on vacation to get rest but she really focused on the others, the ones who obviously knew something.

She eventually held her hands up and silence ensued. "So, where is she now?"

Sasuke and Naruto stopped talking on the dime as Sai rubbed the side of his head gently. "She disappeared halfway through training and headed this way but we couldn't find her so we just came here to see if she started working again but there is still no sign of her."

Before Tsunade could even begin to grow angry, Shizune gave a small cough, drawing the attention to her. "She did go back to her office but I had to deliver a letter to her from Kai. She told me that he wasn't feeling well and just wanted to see if she could return home to help him."

The reaction was instantaneous; the groans and eye squints and muted glares and grumbles and sighs and dirty insults. None of them tried to hide their displeasure towards the man and none of them held the opinion against another because it was all mutual. They all _hated_ Kai.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "That bastard is always screwing shit up for us. Whenever we try and train with Sakura-chan, he has to do with the reason that she declines."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "He is quite an ass."

Kakashi remained quiet, but not because he didn't have anything to say about the young man. No, if anything, there weren't _enough_ words to explain the hatred that he held for Kai. He was arrogant and power hungry; always the first one to put another down in order to maintain happiness or feeling of superiority.

What he hated the most; the way that he looked at Sakura. From day one when Team Seven was first introduced to him, Kakashi loathed him because of the way that his eyes held no shame when staring upon Sakura's body. He would always talk to her chest or her legs or her ass, never her face. He would always wear a sly grin that held so much trouble in the curve of his lips that it almost made him sick to see it. How Sakura fell for him, he would never know nor understand.

"Kakashi," a voice spoke sternly, drawing him out of his hateful thoughts. He looked up to Tsunade blankly as she took a deep breath. "As I was saying," she magnified the words, "Just try to keep an eye out for her. If you see her, try and keep her out of here. I swear, trying to get her away from the hospital is like trying to keep the sun from rising; it's impossible and after a while, you'll get burned."

Sasuke's smirk slipped back into place and Naruto began yelling about something as Sai followed them out of the room. Kakashi tuned them all out; opting for imagining what it would be like if Kai never existed.

Tsunade watched the Jounin's head lower further and further with his deteriorating mood until he performed a silent jutsu and disappeared into a puff of smoke. She shook her head while smiling at the same time. She knew what was going through his head, it was painfully obvious.

She only wished that there was an asshole standing in the way.


End file.
